


Long Time Coming

by FateFics



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-22
Updated: 2014-11-22
Packaged: 2018-02-26 15:45:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2657576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FateFics/pseuds/FateFics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes going from friends to lovers is very natural. Other times, people just need a bit of a push.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Long Time Coming

Life on the road wasn’t always easy. Sure, there was easy access to all those things that tended to get celebrities into trouble from time to time, but ever since THAT video of Louis and Zayn leaked, the band as a whole had been a lot more careful about covering up their tracks. That wasn’t to say that One Direction were that sort of band…well, not really. Occasionally they might partake in a spliff or two, or indulge in a bit of underage drinking (when they were in the States, that is), but the days of cocaine, and especially talking about cocaine on camera, were long behind them. At least for now. After the weed video, all five of them had been sat down and given a stern talking to by their management team, who had more or less told them that if they were going to act like pop stars, then they better learn how to not be idiots about it. Frankly, the little talk had resonated far less with the boys than the phone calls that came from Louis and Zayn’s mums, who had basically struck the fear of God into all of them. Niall thankfully had never been as bad as Louis or Zayn. Sometimes, throughout the Take Me Home tour, he and Liam would make their way to Bus 1, where Louis and Zayn had spent most of their time, and they would dabble in a few things with the two of them, but they found that they never quite enjoyed any of it as much as the other two did. Niall supposed, really, it was a good thing that the video leaked. After all, it had helped them clean up their acts, and after months of watching two of his best mates in the entire world get less and less healthy with each passing day, they were finally returning to their old selves, which Niall thought was bloody fantastic.

Harry, naturally, had always been the good boy. He drank, yes, and once or twice he’d smoke a joint, but it was always when he was feeling stressed about things, like when the media and publicity just got to be a little too much or when he found himself missing home and his family more than usual. Those were the times when Harry would arrange for Gemma to come on tour with them. Niall always knew that when he saw that joint poking out of Harry’s lips, big sister Gemma would come to the rescue a couple days later. All the boys loved Gemma. She was like Harry in female form, but slightly more sarcastic, which was hilarious, because she was one of the only people in the world who could make Harry speechless. Niall always thought it was quite amusing when the media concentrated so much on Harry’s love life, creating elaborate stories about this mysterious brunette here and that mysterious blonde there, when in reality, the only women who were genuinely in Harry’s life were his mum and Gemma, Lou, and a couple of very close female friends back at home. Everything in the media about Harry was just a persona, a lie fabricated by a publicity team to make Harry into the band’s lethario and to help them sell records, when really, he very rarely did anything remotely sexual with any of the girls whom he was actually seen spending any time. Actually, if the media really knew what went on behind those closed doors of hotel rooms, tour buses, and private planes, they’d have a fucking field day with all of it.

Niall had always been very smart about his private life. The fans seemed to think they knew so much about him, but as much as he loved them, he really only let them know what he wanted them to know. For a while he hid the fact that he sometimes smoked from the fans, not wanting them to think he was choosing an unhealthy lifestyle, or that he was heading down the same path as some of his other bandmates, but after a while, he decided, fuck it. He’d been papped all too often with a cigarette tucked behind his ear when he was out at a party or a club for it to be a one time thing. Besides, if the other boys could get away with it with minimal backlash from the fans, then so could he. The girls in his life were the same. Niall had enjoyed sex ever since the first time he’d figured out what it even was. Becoming a pop star in the world’s biggest boy band hadn’t kept Niall from indulging in his desires, even when the fans proclaimed him to be ‘the innocent one.’ They only thought he was the innocent one because that’s what he wanted them to believe. The last thing he wanted was fans messing about in his sex life, and so he kept his hook-ups and girlfriends a secret from them. Rarely, he would like a girl enough to actually be seen with her in public. Amy and Barbara had been exceptions. To the fans, Niall had only been ‘good friends’ with both of them, but it was obvious to anyone with eyes that he let himself be papped with them because he truly enjoyed being with them. Amy, for one, had been quite special to Niall, but she’d been a normal girl and after all the backlash she received from the fans, and the fact that he was always away on tour or busy promoting something, things just got too complicated for them to last. After Amy, he made sure the only girls he was seen with in the media also had some type of celebrity status themselves, girls who would be used to receiving a variety of insults from a large amount of people on Twitter on the daily, and girls who were so busy themselves that it wouldn’t be a big deal if things just fizzled out between them. He only had to look at Liam’s long-term relationships with both Danielle and Sophia and Louis’ long-term relationship with Eleanor to know that normal girls struggled with being a girlfriend of someone in One Direction. Perrie got her fair share of hate, too, and while Niall knew she hated it, she also seemed to handle it better than the others. Sophia, for instance, had kept her social media presence completely private, while Niall couldn’t even remember the last time he’d seen Eleanor tweet about anything. And Danielle, he remembered, had sometimes even gotten into a few arguments with fans when they got especially rude with her. Relationships and fans just didn’t mix well, which is why Niall never confirmed or denied any of the rumors that ever went around about him, even though a good majority of them were actually true. He was just so good at playing innocent that no one ever believed he would actually be capable of some of the things that got whispered about him around the internet.

To Niall, those rumors that spread around about the band online were all a bunch of craic, but for Harry, he knew it ran a bit deeper. Being the only two ‘single’ guys in One Direction meant that naturally, Niall and Harry spent more time together than they did with the other boys, who more often than not had their girlfriends on tour with them. The exception was Zayn, of course, since Perrie was so busy with her own career, but he’d always been quite keen to keep his time to himself when he wasn’t working, which the other boys respected. They all knew what it was like to spend so much time living out of each other’s pockets to value the time they had alone, so they never really bothered Zayn when he went off on his own. Several times throughout their time together as a band, Niall had come across Harry on his own, and most of the time, Niall would sit down next to him and kick his feet up, and the two of them would talk about whatever came to mind. Sometimes they’d discuss something silly that had happened at a show the night before, or the gossip amongst the crew, or within the instrumental band, and other times, they’d discuss topics that were more serious. When One Direction first formed, all the boys had kind of just gravitated to Louis when they needed advice on things, since he was the oldest and, at the time, most experienced in life, but as time passed on, Niall found that when he really wanted to talk to someone, it was Harry who he ultimately went to, rather than Louis. Niall just found it easy to talk to Harry, and the more they talked together, he knew the easier Harry was finding it to talk to Niall about the serious things, as well.

Niall remembered the first real serious conversation he and Harry had had together. It had been before the Brit Awards early in 2013, and they’d talked to each other about the nerves they would get onstage before televised performances. Before 2013, both Harry and Niall had always talked to Louis about that sort of thing. After all, Harry and Louis had been best friends since the X Factor, but as time passed, their friendship had become a little strained, due to the overwhelming amount of fans who thought they were a couple. Louis had pulled back from Harry somewhat, and while they were still close, things between them just weren’t the same as they used to be.

Niall remembered how sick he’d felt before that performance. He remembered standing backstage, staring out of the folds of the curtain at a crowd of stars who had careers so much bigger than he could ever hope his could be. The sight of all the tv cameras that were pointed at the stage where he would very soon be singing made his stomach lurch, and he remembered turning away quickly, tasting the bile as it rapidly rose in his throat, only to see Harry standing there, a worried look on his face as he patted Niall on the shoulder and asked him if he was okay. When Niall shook his head, Harry had guided him into a nearby toilet and squatted next to him as he got sick, making sure the front of Niall’s blazer didn’t get any vomit on it. When he was finished, Niall sat down on the floor, his head back against the wall as he shut his eyes, while Harry walked out again to get him a bottle of water. When he returned, Niall took the water gratefully, and he drank some of it down, before taking another sip and swishing it around his mouth and spitting it into the toilet to help get rid of some of the bad taste in his mouth. Niall remembered Harry then sitting down on the floor next to him, their arms pressed together as Harry talked to him about how anxious he got before televised performances, too, reminding him of how it all started years before on Red or Black. Niall knew all that, of course, but he remembered just how grateful he’d been of Harry to help him remember he wasn’t alone with his anxiety, and that in the end, they had each other, even if things turned out a bit shit when they were on stage.

It had been the first moment when Niall had started thinking of Harry as his best friend rather than his friend, or his bandmate. Sure, he’d always loved Harry as much as he loved the other boys—they were his brothers, after all, but something happened during that conversation that started Niall thinking a little more deeply. From that moment onwards, Harry began to open up to Niall in ways he never had before. He talked to him about his family, about his friendships with the other boys, and his sexuality. For as long as Niall had known Harry, he’d known that Harry enjoyed the company of men as much as he enjoyed the company of women. Back when they were first starting on the X Factor, Niall had thought Harry was simply a clingy sort of guy, but the more he watched Harry, it became obvious to Niall that he was at the very least bisexual, even if Harry hadn’t seemed to realize it about it himself yet. That all changed, however, when Harry got closer to both Aiden Grimshaw and to Louis. Harry, Aiden, and Louis had been thick as thieves during the X Factor, and the closer they all got to each other, Niall could see Harry getting more and more confused about himself. Niall had never really known for sure what had gone on behind the scenes of that little trio because they’d been so good at hiding it, but he remembered just how gutted Harry had been when Aiden got booted from the show, and just how over-protective Louis got of Harry after Aiden’s departure. It wasn’t until months after X Factor ended that Harry told Niall and the other boys that he was pretty sure he was bisexual, as Louis watched, his arms crossed over his chest as he stood beside Harry, as if he was daring Liam, Niall, and Zayn to say something negative about it. None of them did, obviously, as Liam and Zayn had always suspected the same things Niall had, and they were both just as cool with it as Niall. Louis seemed to take it upon himself to help Harry feel more comfortable with his newfound sexuality, and the whole Larry Stylinson thing blew up in a big way from then on out. Niall had remembered watching the two of them together, and even he at times had to wonder if they were both being honest about just being friends, especially after Louis and Hannah’s relationship ended. Harry and Louis had been attached at the hip, and Niall couldn’t help but wonder why Louis, who proclaimed to be straight, would openly flirt with and indulge his best friend, who was young and very obviously still trying to figure out his sexuality. Niall and the other boys never questioned their friendship out loud, though, and they simply watched on with amusement as interview after interview saw Louis and Harry doing absolutely everything they could think of short of publicly snogging each other to stir the pot on the rumors going around about their relationship.

But then Louis met Eleanor, and there was suddenly a very noticeable shift in the way Louis treated Harry. Sometimes, things would be exactly how they had always been, and other times, it was like Harry and Louis were complete strangers. Niall had watched the relationship like it was on bloody Hollyoaks or something, and he sometimes waited with bated breath as Louis read through his mentions on Twitter, the tension in his neck made pretty obvious by the little vein there, pulsing under his skin. The fans were beginning to get to Louis, and he hated how they seemed so very certain that Eleanor wasn’t really his girlfriend. His relationship with Harry was straining, as was his still somewhat new relationship with Eleanor, who absolutely refused to show up in pictures with Louis, or even create a Twitter, because anytime she got close to doing something public with Louis, her friends would tell her how much drama it created. Needless to say, Niall wasn’t exactly surprised when Louis finally flew off the handle and told a fan that Larry Stylinson was complete bullshit. That moment had created a bit of a divide between Louis, Harry, and the fans. Niall had thought it was all a bit much, to be honest, but he’d never been the type to react to drama, and he simply ignored all of it, acting as if nothing had changed in the band’s dynamic, when subtly, it had. Harry and Louis had never seemed quite as close to each other after that. They were still friends, and they cared for each other, but the days of making penis jokes and gay innuendo in interviews were basically over. Very occasionally, Louis would say something that caught them all by surprise, and they would start giggling about it, but those days were few and far between. When it came to Harry in reference to the public eye, Louis was like a complete stranger.

Niall had always been able to tell that it bothered Harry to not have Louis in his life in the way that he used to be, but Harry never seemed to complain about it, and as the months went by, Niall noticed that Harry was finally getting used to it. By the time the Brits rolled around, Harry seemed to be pretty well over the whole drama, and he seemed able to joke around with Louis without getting that furrow in his brow that he used to get whenever he looked at Louis. Things were steadily getting back to normal, and Niall felt like he could breathe easy again…well, except when he was about to appear on live television, apparently. It wasn’t long after the Brit Awards that the Take Me Home tour started, and Niall noticed that everyone’s dynamics on stage had changed since the Up All Night tour. Zayn and Liam were spending more time together on stage, while both Louis and Harry spent more time with him on stage, rather than with each other. One minute Niall would be joking along with Louis about having a hole in the middle of his heart like a polo, and the next Harry would be fixing his microphone for him as he strummed along to Little Things, and teasing him so that he would mess up during one of the other boys’ solos. It was just fun, really, and Niall felt rather chuffed by all the attention that he was getting from the others. Plus, it made the fans go absolutely mental, which never failed to make Niall grin.

Behind the scenes, things were going much the same route. Harry and Niall were spending a lot more time together, simply hanging out in each other’s hotel rooms when they weren’t busy doing anything else. Niall lost count of the amount of times that he made his way to wherever Harry was staying after coming back from a night out with Josh and Sandy, or from a guitar lesson with Dan. Half the time Niall would be tipsy, as would Harry, who had usually been hanging out with Lou or Cal beforehand. Typically, Niall and Harry would kick back on the bed and catch up on Breaking Bad, or if Harry was in a nostalgic mood, they’d watch a few episodes of Friends instead. It was all very calm and peaceful, which was something Niall truly missed, given the sheer amount of fans who followed them everywhere they went. It was a bit of a double-edged sword. Niall loved the fans and the attention they gave him and the rest of the boys, but at the same time, he couldn’t actually remember the last time he’d gotten a peaceful night’s sleep. The closest he came were those times that he accidentally fell asleep on the bed next to Harry, who could fall asleep anywhere no matter how chaotic things were, the lucky bastard. On one of those nights, hours after both of them had fallen asleep, Niall had woken up quite abruptly, shivering from the temperature of the hotel room. It had been one of those cities where Niall was supposed to be staying in a completely different hotel than the one Harry was in, and instead of getting up and leaving to head back to his own hotel (because fuck that at five o’clock in the morning), Niall pulled back the duvet on the bed, and he slipped in underneath it, automatically feeling the warmth radiating off of Harry’s body. As soon as Niall was under the covers, he felt Harry shift closer to him, and for a moment, all Niall could do was watch Harry’s face in the darkness, and listen to the soft snoring coming from his mouth. Eventually, Niall fell back to sleep, and when he woke up the next morning, it was to find Harry’s arm draped across his ribcage and his chin digging into Niall’s shoulder, as he still softly snored away.

There had been other moments like that during that tour, but it was never anything that made Niall sit up and pay attention to what might actually be going on. To him, he and Harry had just gotten to that point in their friendship where waking up semi-cuddling just wasn’t a big deal at all. Niall, for one, had never really considered what it might be like to be with another guy, and even though Harry was bi, he had never really thought that Harry would be remotely interested in him in that way. When Niall thought about Harry being with another guy, he always imagined it to be some older hipster type guy, like Nick Grimshaw and all his London friends, or one of the LA bigwigs he liked to hang out with when he was on break from work. Niall couldn’t even fathom the idea that Harry would ever consider him as anything other than his best friend. It just seemed absurd. He and Harry were buddies. They golfed together, went to concerts together, and generally just enjoyed their time together, but there had never been even the slightest hint of something sexual brewing beneath the surface. Or so Niall thought.

It really wasn’t until around August when Niall began to start seeing things in a different light. Harry had always been the type of guy who could charm the pants off absolutely anyone, male or female, gay or straight—it didn’t matter. Harry could charm the stars out of the sky if he really put his mind to it. August was a busy month for the band, as they were finishing up the American leg of the tour, performing at the Teen Choice Awards and then promoting This Is Us the whole week before the premiere. They were all exhausted by that point, and quite relieved to finally have a break from touring before the Australian leg started up again in September. The promotional interviews and press junkets for the film still kept them busy, of course, but it was nice not having to perform every night. Tour life was fun, but it was draining, too, and Niall was more than happy to be back in London for the first time in what felt like ages.

During one of those early September nights in London, Niall found himself at Harry’s house (he found it hilarious how many fans still thought that Harry was actually homeless), and he sat sprawled out on the couch drinking a beer, flicking through channels on the television. When he’d gotten to the house earlier in the evening, Niall had been craving food and had been about ten seconds away from ordering takeaway, but then Harry had snatched the phone out of his hands, looking at him like he was mental before assuring him that he would cook something for him instead. Apparently, in Harry Styles’ house, one simply did not do takeaway. In the end, Niall ended up with a nice chicken stir-fry, and he found himself so full when he was finished with it that he had to turn down a slice of banoffee pie. Well, really, he’d told Harry to give him about twenty minutes and then maybe ask him again. Harry had cleaned up the kitchen during that time, and when he returned to the living room about fifteen minutes later, he brought a slice of pie and a fork, putting the plate down on the coffee table in front of Niall.

“Budge up,” Harry told him, using his notebook to gently swat Niall’s foot out of the way so that he could sit down next to him. Niall took another sip of his beer as he moved his foot, and then he leaned forward, grabbing the pie off the table and tucking in to it. Niall’s eyes rolled back in his head as he chewed, and then he looked over at Harry, groaning. “That’s really feckin’ good pie. Where’d you get it?” he asked, taking another bite and once again making another slightly inappropriate sound as he stared at Harry. He didn’t really notice the way Harry’s cheeks tinged red for a moment, as he was much too distracted trying to savor the taste of the pie.

“Little place in Covent Garden.” Harry answered, taking a sip of his own beer as he looked at the tv. He frowned as he saw Niall was watching Celebrity Big Brother. “What’s going on in the house tonight?” He asked. He always seemed to come into the show when it was most confusing, and he pointed to the screen, furrowing his brow. “Wait, didn’t Carol get evicted yesterday?” Niall shook his head. “Nah, mate, it was a fake out. See, they kept her in prison in secret, and now that Sophie’s just got evicted they brought her back in, and now she’s wanting to get rid of Courtney. To be fair, I’d try to get rid of Courtney, too. Feckin’ annoying, that one.” Harry shrugged, wrinkling his nose. “Yeah, but that’s why she’ll end up staying in, in the end.” He took another sip of beer, watching the tv for a few minutes, but his phone started ringing, and he shifted on the couch as he tried to fish his phone out of the pocket of his tight jeans. Harry was finally able to retrieve it, and Niall muted the television, finishing up his pie as Harry talked on the phone.

Niall couldn’t help but noticed the little frown that came over Harry’s face as he mentioned something about London Fashion Week, and when he hung up the phone, Niall gave him an inquisitive look. “What’s up?” he asked, feeling a little concerned as Harry continued to frown. Harry looked up, furrowing his brow at Niall. “Huh? Oh. Nothing, really. That was Cara’s publicist. She got me sorted with a front row seat for the Burberry show on the sixteenth.”

Niall nodded, understanding Harry’s pensiveness suddenly. “You know, I doubt you’ll have to dodge rumors about you and Cara much longer. I mean, all the build up for the movie is done, and her PR is calling most of the shots anyway…The way I see it, she’s about two steps away from tattooing Rita’s name on her forehead. I reckon by the time the Burberry show comes round you’ll be able to shoot down the rumors altogether. And it’s also nice that you and Cara are friends, and she’s, you know…not as anal about things as your last girlfriend.” Niall put up quotes with his fingers when he said ‘girlfriend,’ and Harry rolled his eyes at him, smiling softly. He nodded. “Yeah, I know, but ending things officially with Cara only means that when we start touring Australia, they’re going to get busy finding a new girlfriend for when it comes time for album promo. Like, I mean, I don’t mind doing it, it gets our names out and everything, but it would be nice to be able to pick my own relationships for once.” He snorted before letting out a low sigh. “I envy you, mate. Being able to date whoever you want.” Niall reached over and squeezed Harry’s shoulder, giving him a soft look.

“One day you will.” He gave Harry a small smile. “Who would you want to date next? If you had the choice, I mean?” He asked, a grin on his face as he tried to get Harry to perk up a bit. “Who’s the person you’ve got a thing for right now?” He asked, remembering a quote of Harry’s he saw in magazine only a couple weeks before.

“Uhhh, well, right now it’s kind of a guy.”

Niall rolled his eyes, giving Harry an exasperated look. “Kind of a guy? What does that even mean? You know you can tell me, mate. I’m not gonna tell the other guys. Come on, who is it?” He was looking at Harry eagerly, feeling like it was very important that he know just who Harry was thinking about late at night.

Harry shook his head. “Nah, it’s dumb. He’d never think that way about me. I might as well start thinking about which girls I won’t mind hanging out with this winter.”

His comment was rewarded with a hard pinch to the skin at the back of Harry’s arm, and Harry hissed, swatting Niall’s hand away before rubbing at the sore area. “Ow, what the hell? That fucking hurt, Niall.”

“Because that was a cop out answer. Tell me who you like. The only way you’d ever surprise me is if it turns out to be one of the guys. Well, I guess Louis wouldn’t surprise me, but if it was Zayn or Liam, I’d be surprised.”

He grinned as Harry turned his face to him, giving him an annoyed look. “Why do you want to know so badly?”

Niall shrugged, taking a sip of his beer, and then he licked his lips. “Because I’m bored. And I’m not seeing anyone right now, so it’s interesting to know who you fancy since I don’t really fancy anyone right now. And the other three are all shacked up with their relationships, so they’re all boring, too. You, my friend, are a single pringle just like me, which means your stories are far more interesting.”

“Niall, I’m not telling you. It’s just a guy. It’s a stupid crush that’s never going to go anywhere because he’s a friend and he’s straight and it’s just..never going to happen, okay? So drop it. Please.” Harry folded his arms across his chest, looking defensive, and Niall watched him, frowning. Harry had never not told him about the people he liked, and he felt a little offended that he wasn’t sharing with him now.

“Okay. Whatever.” He shook his head. “I just don’t get why you’ve never had any trouble telling me about anyone else, even when you thought there was no chance with them, and now all of a sudden you’re too afraid to say. What makes this guy so different?” he asked, getting frustrated as he looked at Harry.

Suddenly, Harry stood, looking down at Niall in aggravation, and he grabbed the empty plate off the coffee table and headed back into the kitchen. He was standing at the sink, scrubbing at the plate when Niall walked into the kitchen after him, and Niall gave him a confused look. “Harry, what’s your problem? We’re mates. We share things. It’s not like I’m gonna fucking judge you for who you want to fuck. I’m just curious.”

Harry turned around, tea towel in hand as he dried the plate a bit before putting it down on the rack. “Actually, you will judge me because there’s no way you wouldn’t have something to say about it.” Harry swallowed, pausing tensely. “Considering the person I want to fuck right now is you. Is that what you wanted to hear?” Harry shook his head, dropping the tea towel back onto the counter. “I’m going to bed.” Harry continued, staring Niall down. He then walked past him, his arm brushing against Niall’s shoulder. “I trust you can let yourself out.” And then Harry walked out, leaving Niall standing alone in the kitchen, completely shocked.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
